Today we’d like to introduce you to Kisha Sardin
Hi Kisha, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As a child I grew up in South Central LA, specifically what is now known as Jefferson Park and in Mid City. There were tons of huge beautiful homes in my neighborhood, a mixture of craftsman, traditional and some are even zoned historical homes. In the 1980’s and 90’s kids were outside all day, so we saw a lot and the community was strong. We knew our neighbors and the neighborhood. We walked and rode our bikes everywhere so I would walk past these large beautiful homes every day and wondered what they looked like inside, how big were the rooms etc. But my main thought and concern was why did me and my family live in this tiny apartment and not one of these big homes. How can we get one of these homes to live in. I would look at the JC Penney, Fingerhut, Toys R Us and Sears catalogs and see the beautiful canopy beds and bedroom set ups in the magazines. Sort of like the room Dj and Stephanie had on the TV Show Full House and man I wanted a room like that. We had two small bedrooms but we either slept with my mom or when we got older my sisters and I shared a room amongst the 3 of us with either my Grandma or my older cousin. Definitely no room for my canopy bed. So that is the basis of how I got into Real Estate and becoming a Realtor in 2019. I wanted to educate myself on how does one acquire such things because no one in my family knew, my mom and her siblings all lived in tiny apartments so we were missing information and most importantly MONEY. So I took it upon myself to find out. As a kid I would get in trouble for selling my diamond stud earrings my mom bought for money, I would get the local neighborhood guys who were like big brothers and cousins to give me money for every A that I got on my report card, so really came up as a straight A student. I was just always a young hustler/entrepreneur from a young girl and it naturally helped when I transitioned into business for myself as a Realtor. I wish I would have took the leap to get into Real Estate earlier when those homes were $100k vs them being nearly $1,000,000+ in present day, but I am glad I did as I have been able to assist 2 out of 3 siblings purchase their first homes as well as multiple family, friends and past coworkers by educating them on the process. They too thought home ownership was not possible. I will now make sure my kids leave my home as homeowners themselves as opposed to renters because I have spent 100’s of thousands of dollars on renting in their lifetime.
Being I started my career later in life at 38yrs old I also wanted to ensure my kids have the opportunity to go after their dreams right away with my full support. So in addition to being a Realtor I work as a Momager to my oldest son Jaylen aka cg.Kaos who is an artist who sings, raps, and a songwriter who is in the Artist Development phase of his career and my youngest son Ajay is a senior in high school who wants to attend Southern University and A & M College in Baton Rouge, LA so I am pouring into him to be sure I support him fully in his next phase of life with no delays like I endured.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I had to start work immediately after high school to take care of myself as I was living with my sister. My mom had her own struggles which now as an adult and parent I understand more than I did as a child. So I started off working in retail and call centers. I hated work!! Clocking in and out having to be there late into the night when I rather be home having a good time and enjoying my young life. I hated dealing with rude customers that can come working in retail. Especially during Holiday season. I would quit a job the day I started it and didn’t care a bit. I would go to lunch and not come back LOL. I always even as a kid just wanted MORE but never could figure out what the MORE was but I knew where I was at wasn’t it. Making hardly any money but working my butt off and all for what?.
I then got pregnant and had my first son at 22yrs old. I was unemployed and living with my sister sleeping on her couch. I battled with the thoughts of not keeping my child as my current living situation just wasn’t optimal. I decided to keep my baby and on 12/9/03 I became a mom. The reality of now having a life I was responsible for hit me. One month after he was born my 2 older sisters paid my move in fee of $1500 for my first apartment. It was a 1 bedroom in Hawthorne and the rent was $700. They paid my first months rent and it was on me after that. So no more quitting jobs because I had responsibility and a household to maintain. So I went back to work consistently and when I had my youngest baby Ajay in 07 I was established in the medical field working in the Administrative and Patient Care side of a physical therapy facility and later a Medical Office where I worked from 2008 until I became a full time Realtor. Though the pay wasn’t horrible it wasn’t keeping up with the rising cost of rents, bills, maintaining a family AND my personal needs. We had some hungry days and nights, there were times of having to move because the paycheck just wasn’t cutting it anymore and neither was the 3% raises I was getting annually. I was once again in search of this MORE that kept evading me. Fast forward to 2018 I was married, not happy in my marriage, not happy with work and just felt like that kid looking at the big homes wondering why am I here unhappy and not living life to the fullest without the financial worries or not wanting to go home because it wasn’t my happy place. I saw my misery affecting my kids so I decided to step out on faith and turn our world upside down in order to land right side up. It was a huge stressful sacrifice that I would definitely not recommend anyone else to do but I did.
I took a leave from work to focus on getting my real estate license and also left my husband and moved my kids out of the home they had known for years. I was unemployed technically, on a single income, doing uber and Lyft to make ends meet and I wasn’t sure how things would turn out but I gave myself no plan B and said this has to work.
When I first got into Real Estate my company CEO told me it takes 5yrs to build a consistent Real Estate Business. She didn’t lie at all!! I am on year 5 in my Real Estate career and after hitting rock bottom and having to start from scratch after leaving my job, my husband, my home, I think I can now see that elusive MORE I have been searching for. It is definitely within my grasp.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As stated before I got into Real Estate and became a Realtor to educate myself and learn more about the home buying process. As I got older it just seemed people I knew whose parents owned homes didn’t struggle in the ways my family and I did. So I was curious about the money aspect of owning a home in addition to residing in one. When I first started I focused on helping first time buyers solely. Once I realized home ownership was attainable I wanted to tell everyone with a steady Job History and income to buy one. I also started in business at a time that the communities I lived and grew up in were being gentrified. I saw so many people practically give their homes away because savvy investors who are not from our community came in and offered these people more money than they have ever seen and was able to get them to sell their homes for the quick cash below market value. I knew I did not want to work that way and I also knew it was their lack of education and financial literacy that caused them to leave so much money on the table. They were not educated on their homes true value nor the process of selling a home. Granted some of these homeowners were in distressed situations so I understand the urgency to sell. Within my career I have come across those distressed sellers, families having to lose their parents or grandparents homes due to reverse mortgages and some who are facing foreclosure. These are all emotional situations but they tug at my heart the most. I had one seller who came to me to sell his home. He was in pre-foreclosure and I did all the steps to try and sell his home prior to him losing it however he had signed a contract unbeknownst to me with an investment group who had rights to his home for the next five years. He can make no decision on the sell of that home for 5yrs!!! He will eventually lose the home and there was nothing I can do about it. He was not educated and did not read his contract he signed because he did not hire a licensed Realtor governed by the State of CA where we have to uphold ethics and fiduciary duties to assist him. He responded to a quick cash sale postcard and got worked in the end. I’m not sure why but his situation lit a fire under me and I have since been focused on educating distressed sellers. It is a tough side of the business and can be mentally draining because emotions run high with these scenarios but I feel as if I was meant for this side of real estate. While I still assist buyers and even currently have a commercial sale in escrow helping distressed sellers from my community are my top priority and if I can just help one person save their home or if they must sell help them not leave one dollar on the table that they earned then I feel I did my job. These type of sales aren’t as easy but I know the Lord will take care of me because I am working from my heart not my pocket at this phase of my life. Some call me crazy for that but so far I have been favored so I am ok.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success by the success of those around me. Success is seeing my sisters and their families in their beautiful homes happy and thriving. Success is seeing my son on stage doing what he loves. Success is seeing my baby excited about his straight A’s on his report card and talking about his goals for school and life after that. I realized that success isn’t just a dollar amount. It’s a feeling. I have had rough times financially during my journey in real estate but it didn’t feel rough because I was happy being able to do what I love and helping people I love. My family and friends rely on me heavily, from taking care of sick family members, getting advice, educating them on financial literacy, putting your assets in a trust and so forth. A lot of times I am asked where do I find the time, when do I sleep but my heart is in a place of giving and success to me is seeing those that I have helped or inspired happy and thriving. While I have yet to get that grand big house I wanted as a child I know it’s coming. Just wasn’t meant to come on the timing I had in mind. It will come in God’s timing and plan. So I am currently happy in my Townhouse seeing my kids in their own separate spaces excited about their futures. Even if I didn’t have a dime in my pocket that feels like success. This year I put my own career on the back burner to help my son start building his. Did it affect me?? Absolutely!!! But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just being able to do that is a success to me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kish_the_realtor?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kisha.sardin/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kish_the_realtor?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Image Credits
Brittney Jean Photography
